1. Field of the Disclosure
The technology of the disclosure relates generally to enclosures for housing distributed antenna system equipment provided in a distributed antenna system. The distributed antenna system equipment can include optical fiber-based distributed antenna equipment for distributing radio frequency (RF) signals over optical fiber to remote antenna units.
2. Technical Background
Wireless communication is rapidly growing, with ever-increasing demands for high-speed mobile data communication. As an example, so-called “wireless fidelity” or “WiFi” systems and wireless local area networks (WLANs) are being deployed in many different types of areas (e.g., coffee shops, airports, libraries, etc.). Wireless communication systems communicate with wireless devices called “clients,” which must reside within the wireless range or “cell coverage area” in order to communicate with an access point device.
One approach to deploying a wireless communication system involves the use of “picocells.” Picocells are radio frequency (RF) coverage areas. Picocells can have a radius in the range from a few meters up to twenty meters as an example. Combining a number of access point devices creates an array of picocells that cover an area called a “picocellular coverage area.” Because the picocell covers a small area, there are typically only a few users (clients) per picocell. This allows for minimizing the amount of RF bandwidth shared among the wireless system users. In this regard, head-end communication equipment can be provided to receive incoming RF signals from a wired or wireless network. The head-end communication equipment distributes the RF signals on a communication downlink to remote antenna units distributed throughout a building or facility. Client devices within range of the picocells can receive the RF signals and can communicate RF signals back to an antenna in the remote antenna unit, which are communicated back on a communication uplink to the head-end communication equipment and onto the network. The head-end communication equipment may be configured to convert RF signals into optical fiber signals to be communicated over optical fiber to the remote antenna units.
It may be desirable to provide a housing or enclosure for communication equipment for a distributed antenna system that is easily assembled. Thus, the housing or enclosure can be easily assembled in the field. Further, it may be desirable to provide communication equipment for a distributed antenna system that is compatible with expansion of picocells. Thus, it may be desirable to provide communication equipment for a distributed antenna system that can be easily upgraded or enhanced to support an increased number or type of remote antenna units, as an example. It may be further desired to allow technicians or other users to provide this increased support in the field, thus making it desirable to allow equipment changes and upgrades to easily be made in the communication equipment with ease and proper function.